1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally directed to machines for removing old roofing shingles, roofing felt, tar paper, nails and the like from building structures and more particularly to such a machine that is movably guided on guide rails that are mounted on a shingled roof. The machine includes a plurality of cutter heads that are mounted on a drive shaft driven by a power source carried by the machine. Drive elements mounted on the machine are also powered by the power source and move the machine relative to the guide rails. Removed shingles and other debris are thrown by the cutter heads to a discharge area of the machine housing from which they are pneumatically conveyed and/or conveyed by gravity to a collection receptacle or truck positioned adjacent the building from which the old roofing materials are being removed. The machine is preferably remotely controlled for operator safety.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Depending on the quality of roofing shingles, the pitch of a roof and ambient weather conditions, housing and other building shingles must normally be replaced every fifteen to thirty years. Often, two layers of shingles may have to be removed before new shingles may be installed. Hand tools for facilitating the removal of roofing shingles have long been known, however, such tools not only require a great deal of physical strength, but their use is labor intensive and often unsafe. Roofing, by its very nature, is a hazardous activity and, on steeply pitched roofs, it is extremely difficult for roofers to adequately and safely manipulate hand held shingle removal tools to remove old shingles and roofing nails or other fasteners.
To reduce the amount of manual labor needed to normally strip a roof of old shingles, nails and tar paper or other underlayment, various types of powered machinery have been design and developed to mechanically perform the work traditionally done by hand. Such powered shingle removing machines include electrical or gas fueled engines that are mounted on a frame supported by one or more sets of wheels. The engines provide sources of power to the wheels and/or cutters associated with the machines. The cutters may vary from movable chisel-like devices to cutting blades or rotary drum-like devices. Unfortunately, such machines are difficult to manipulate and often totally unsuitable for use on steeply pitched roofs. Also, manipulating any type of powered machinery on a roof is extremely dangerous and unsafe.
The removing of old roofing shingles or cedar shakes is a three Phase operation. The initial phase is the removal of the old roofing material by chipping or prying it up either manually, using a tool such as a spade or pry bar, or using a powered machine. Phase two is to then pull and remove the nails, tacks or other fasteners used to secure the old roofing materials. Phase three is the physical picking up of all the debris and depositing the debris in a waste receptacle.
Some examples of prior art powered shingle and other roofing material removing machines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,218,766 to Himebaugh, 4,269,450 to Welborn, 4,673,219 to Perciful, 4,232,906 to Torbenson, 3,740,099 to Lenzner, 3,223,451 to Orr, 2,749,103 to Clemenzi, and 1,415,949 to Perelman.